


Care and Keeping of Cardassians

by EdosianOrchids901



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Post-Canon Cardassia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 09:11:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18140246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdosianOrchids901/pseuds/EdosianOrchids901
Summary: When a power outage strikes Cardassia during winter, Bashir comes up with a way to keep Garak warm





	Care and Keeping of Cardassians

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue prompt from Tumblr: "I'll keep you warm"

“Hallo, Elim!” Julian slammed the door shut and shuddered. “You always said Cardassia would be too hot for me, but it’s really not. It’s damn cold out there right now, lots of winds coming off the mountains. You all right? I know this isn’t your favorite weather.”

The pile of blankets—Elim—glared at him from the couch. Oh dear.

“Do you think I’d be intentionally suffocating myself if I was all right?” Elim snapped.

Just another day on Cardassia. Julian dropped his medkit on the table. “You can turn up the heat, you know.”

“Actually, I can’t.”

Why was that? _Maybe the damned heating system malfunctioned again,_ Julian thought. _Where’s Miles when you need him?_ “You can’t?”

“No. Didn’t you notice the lack of light?”

Julian glanced around the shadowed living room. “Not really, I just assumed you had a headache. Did something happen?”

“No, as I said, I’m sitting here willingly in the dark and suffocating myself!” Elim’s voice rose in pitch, eyes shimmering with accusation.

“I can’t help if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.” Julian sat on the couch, unwrapped a royal blue scarf from around Elim’s face, and touched his cheek. “God, you’re freezing.”

“The power seems to have gone out,” Elim said, huddling towards Julian’s warmth. “It’s been an unpleasant day.”

“Day? When did this happen?”

“Around lunch, regrettably. Right as I was replicating my meal. Have you ever seen what a replicator does to food when it malfunctions?” He shuddered. “Well. Suffice it to say, not a pleasant smell.”

Julian stared at him. Was he _trying_ to give himself hypothermia? This was so typical. “Since lunch? You should have called me!”

“On what? The power’s out, my dear.”

“We have communicators that aren’t tied to the main power grid.” Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. And from someone who liked to brag about his survival instincts… “Plus there’s the skimmer.”

“As if I wanted to venture out into the frigid nightmare that is the outdoors.” Elim rose, pulled the blankets tighter around his shoulders, and crept to the window.

Groaning, Julian covered his eyes with one hand. Such was life with Elim Garak. “How are you aside from half-frozen?”

“Oh, a bit tense. Things have been rather busy of late, you know.”

Well, at least he was still behaving like himself. That was a blatant lie. It wasn’t Garak’s schedule that was the problem, at least not right now—it was the prolonged cold spell.

Elim was fussy on the best of days, albeit less so when comfortably settled into a routine of working, reading, gardening, and late-night conversation. But winter storms hurled all that into disarray.

Most Cardassians isolated themselves during winter storms. They worked from home, unwilling to risk transit into the still-unstable cities. The cold compromised Elim’s focus, which suspended most of his leisure activities. His plants huddled under protective domes, awaiting warmer days.

By contrast, Julian had never been busier. He raced from home to home, building to building. Cardassians and cold weather didn’t mix.

 “Get back here,” he said, thumping the couch cushion. “It wouldn’t look too good for me if I let my partner freeze to death. No one on Cardassia would ever trust my medical expertise again.”

Elim huffed but did as ordered. “There’s no need to fuss. I’m sure you’re quite busy with other matters.”

“I know, I know. Sorry I’ve been gone so much.” Julian ran a tricorder scan and sighed with relief. He’d certainly seen Elim in much worse conditions. “No hypothermia.”

“Death won’t rescue me from this misery anytime soon, then?”

A smile broke out across Julian’s face. If Elim was still being his usual dramatic self, everything would be fine. “I’m afraid not.”

Elim shivered and huddled tighter under the blankets. “I do believe I quite misinformed you about Cardassia’s climate. Years of freezing on the station must have dulled my memory of how effectively I could freeze here.”

Actually, he’d often complained that DS9 was “as cold as the worst Cardassian winters.” At least the station had power and temperature controls, which was more than could be said for their house now.

Julian laid back on the couch and opened his arms. “Come here. I’ll keep you warm.”

With another shudder, Elim curled against his side. “Ah, that’s quite nice. Do you do this for all your patients, Doctor?”

“I only prescribe snuggles for the most dire cases.” Julian adjusted the blankets so he was also covered, then tucked the excess around Elim’s head. _My poor, freezing Cardassian._

Settling in, he closed his eyes and rubbed Elim’s shoulder. That earned him a contented hum, and he smiled. Moving to Cardassia had undoubtedly been the right decision. Between the choice of safe, lonely quarters on DS9 and life in the partially rebuilt ruins of Cardassia, he’d chose Cardassia every time. More to the point, he’d chose _Elim_ every time.

“What are you thinking about?” Elim murmured. He nuzzled against Julian’s neck, and Julian shivered from the chilly contact.

_How empty and meaningless my life on DS9 was without you. How relieved I am to be at your side again._

“Oh, you know. That your skin still feels like ice.” He kissed Elim’s cheek and drew him closer.


End file.
